Charges in fetus death depend on autopsy findings

Updated 12:21 pm, Thursday, February 14, 2013

Homicide detectives arrive at the family house of the woman who told nurses she discarded her baby.

Homicide detectives arrive at the family house of the woman who told nurses she discarded her baby.

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An HPD crime scene officer arrives at a residence on Tambourine Drive in Stafford, which is connected to a missing newborn case.

An HPD crime scene officer arrives at a residence on Tambourine Drive in Stafford, which is connected to a missing newborn case.

Photo: Nick De La Torre / Houston Chronicle

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Houston police search the area around an apartment complex on Sunnyside near Werner Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2013, for a newborn baby.

Houston police search the area around an apartment complex on Sunnyside near Werner Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2013, for a newborn baby.

Photo: Nick De La Torre / Houston Chronicle

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A Houston police officer searches a Dumpster at an apartment complex on Sunnyside near Werner Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2013. Officers asked the trash company to hold off on pickup until their search for a newborn baby is completed.

A Houston police officer searches a Dumpster at an apartment complex on Sunnyside near Werner Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2013. Officers asked the trash company to hold off on pickup until their search for a newborn

Authorities look for a baby wrapped in a blanket Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2013.

Authorities look for a baby wrapped in a blanket Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2013.

Photo: Nick De La Torre / Houston Chronicle

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Houston Police search a dumpster for the fetus of a woman who said she had discarded it at the La Casita apartments. The woman told police she took pills to force an abortion because she couldn't care for a child. less

Houston Police search a dumpster for the fetus of a woman who said she had discarded it at the La Casita apartments. The woman told police she took pills to force an abortion because she couldn't care for a ... more

Photo: Nick De La Torre, Staff

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Houston Police officers fill in homicide detectives upon their arrival as they try to locate the body of a fetus who was allegedly aborted in her mother.

Houston Police officers fill in homicide detectives upon their arrival as they try to locate the body of a fetus who was allegedly aborted in her mother.

Photo: Nick De La Torre, Staff

Charges in fetus death depend on autopsy findings

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Authorities are awaiting the results of an autopsy before deciding whether to pursue criminal charges against a Houston woman who apparently induced an abortion and then discarded the 5-month-old fetus in a relative's trash can.

Bleeding heavily after delivery, the 29-year-old woman showed up at Memorial Hermann Southwest Hospital on Wednesday and told an emergency-room nurse what had happened. The nurse called police, who dispatched officers to recover the fetus, which the woman said she had wrapped in a blanket.

The woman, whose name was not released, told police she had taken unidentified pills on Tuesday to prompt the abortion because she could not afford to care for a child. She lost a substantial amount of blood during the incident and remains hospitalized, though doctors said she was conscious and conversant and is expected to make a full recovery.

The woman first told authorities she had disposed of the fetus at her former residence, the La Casita apartment complex at 313 Sunnyside. Dozens of officers searched the apartment grounds and garbage bin but found nothing. The woman then admitted the fetus was not there and revealed the proper location, the Stafford-area home of family members.

Houston Police Department Sgt. James Racus said the woman's family did not know about the abortion or that she had been pregnant. He said she moved into the home recently and had managed to conceal her condition.

"You can have an abortion," Racus said, "but performing an abortion on yourself - you can die."

Racus said the woman may be in the country illegally and could be fearful of police, which might explain why she initially misled officerss.

No charges have been filed in the case because it is unknown whether the fetus was alive or viable at the time of birth, Racus said. The Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences will perform an autopsy in an attempt to determine the extent of fetal development. Doctors at the hospital estimated the woman had been between about 20 and 25 weeks pregnant, Racus said.

The difference between the two numbers is crucial, according to standard fetal viability charts. A baby delivered after less than 22 weeks of gestation has little chance of survival. However, the survival rate goes up to half or higher at 25 weeks.